Pearl (GEM Book #2) by Freya Barker-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 25, 2023

Operator Pearl; layered, mysterious, a protector.
She masks as delicate, analyzes, and moves stealthily.

Hot on the trail of a young accomplice in a child exploitation ring, Pearl finds herself posing as a teenager to get close. Unfortunately, joining a group of kids on a wilderness quest means stepping out of her comfort zone and into uncertainty. But with the target in her sights her focus stays razor-sharp.

The last thing she needs is the dogged journalist who’s been close on her heels catching up and rattling her cage. When he inserts himself into her investigation, she has no choice but to go along.

Thrown together in a mutual pursuit of justice, the negative energy between them sparks up in a new way.

GEM: a privately-funded organization operating independently in the search for—and the rescue and recovery of—missing and exploited children. Although, at times working in conjunction with law enforcement, GEM aims to ensure the victims receive justice…by whatever means necessary.

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REVIEW:PEARL is the second instalment in Freya Barker’s contemporary, adult GEM romantic suspense series focusing on three GEM agents and friends Opal, Pearl and Onyx. This is GEM Agent Janey ‘Pearl’ Fisher, and investigative journalist Lee Remington’s story line. PEARL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but for cohesion, I recommend reading the series in order as there is an ongoing premise throughout.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

GEM stands for Gather, Evaluate, Mobilize

Told from dual first person perspectives (Pearl and Lee) PEARL follows the search for a missing young girl with connections to a program for troubled teens called Evolution Quest .With the help of investigative journalist Lee Remington, Pearl goes undercover as a volunteer in the hopes of learning the who, how and why but Lee and Pearl are about to expose an intricate pedophile ring who target their victims at Evolution Quest. What ensues is the building relationship between Lee and Pearl, and the potential fall-out when Lee is targeted, and Pearl discovers the past never truly dies until you see if for yourself.

The world building continues to focus on GEM (Gather, Evaluate, Mobilize), a group that works independently of other organizations, searching for missing and exploited children; and CARD (Child Abduction Rapid Deployment) a division of the FBI working to stop those trafficking in children. Twenty years earlier Janey and her fellow GEM agents Kate (Opal) and Raj (Onyx), were abducted from a teen youth center, help captive and abused by a madman who was believed to have died in a fire at the center but their investigations into the missing and exploited all reveal a connection to the center, and the probability the baddest of the bad survived.

The relationship between Pearl and Lee begins acrimoniously as Pearl doesn’t want a partner aka Lee along for the ride. Pearl is desperate to locate the missing girl but Lee is about to reveal he knows more about the case than she could have imagined. As Lee and Pearl begin an investigation of their own, they will find themselves a target of the people involved. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters include Opal and Mitch (Opal), Raj (Onyx), GEM boss Jacob Branch, as well as several struggling teens, counsellors ,parents and law enforcement. The requisite evil has many faces.

PEARL is another story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, abuse and obsession, love and understanding. The premise is dramatic, twisted and tragic; the characters are spirited, animated and stubborn; the romance is edgy and compelling.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one OPAL

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.

Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

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